Geography

Israel, slightly larger than Massachusetts, lies
at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Egypt on
the west, Syria and Jordan on the east, and Lebanon on the north. Its
maritime plain is extremely fertile. The southern Negev region, which
comprises almost half the total area, is largely a desert. The Jordan, the
only important river, flows from the north through Lake Hule (Waters of
Merom) and Lake Kinneret (also called Sea of Galilee or Sea of Tiberias),
finally entering the Dead Sea 1,349 ft (411 m) below sea level—the
world's lowest land elevation.

Government

Parliamentary democracy.

History

Palestine, considered a holy land by Jews,
Muslims, and Christians, and homeland of the modern state of Israel, was
known as Canaan to the ancient Hebrews. Palestine's name derives from the
Philistines, a people who occupied the southern coastal part of the
country in the 12th century
B.C.

A Hebrew kingdom established in 1000
B.C.
was later split into the kingdoms of Judah and
Israel; they were subsequently invaded by Assyrians, Babylonians,
Egyptians, Persians, Romans, and Alexander the Great of Macedonia. By
A.D.
135, few Jews were left in Palestine; most
lived in the scattered and tenacious communities of the Diaspora,
communities formed outside Palestine after the Babylonian exile. Palestine
became a center of Christian pilgrimage after the emperor Constantine
converted to that faith. The Arabs took Palestine from the Byzantine
empire in 634–640. Interrupted only by Christian Crusaders, Muslims
ruled Palestine until the 20th century. During World War I, British forces
defeated the Turks in Palestine and governed the area under a League of
Nations mandate from 1923.